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UPDATE: Hey, Kickstarter! Because there's only a week left in our project, we're setting a new goal! If Brine and Dine is funded to $8,000in the next seven days, everyone who has pledged $25 or more will receive a Brine and Dine tote bag with a kickstarter-backer specific design printed on it! This will be a different design than the one on our t-shirts! Thanks again for all of the support we've received so far, and we hope to meet this new goal with your continued help. Please continue to spread the word to your friends and family so that we can have a strong finish and make this new reward happen!

MAJOR UPDATE! You can now have several jars of kraut shipped for a flat $15! Thankfully it was brought to our attention that more than one jar would fit in the flat-rate priority box. So receive up to three jars and pay only $15 for cold-shipping! If you pledged $25 for the jar and shirt and included your $15 shipping, but want more kraut, simply add $15 for the additional jars. But wait! We are ready to knock $5 off the third jar! Three jars of kraut and a shirt, shipped, will then be $65. Those able to pick up are, of course, welcome to the same deal. Just subtract the $15 shipping cost! This is a great way to sample multiple flavors!

We're working hard on our catering package and you can check out Update #7to see exactly what we offer when we cater your event; we're hoping you'll choose ourcatering package and push us over the top so that we can meet this new goal! These chantrelle and macadamia ravioli are so close you can taste them!

The Brine and Dine Live Culture Collective is dedicated to creating and producing accessible, vegan, fermented foods. We've been cooking and learning together for years, and we've perfected our recipes fermenting cabbage and root vegetables in our cupboards, giving it away to friends and family. We're planning our largest batch yet, and we need your help to make it happen.

Our sauerkraut is delicious, raw, and alive

The sauerkraut you've grown accustomed to has been boiled in saltwater to save time and money. Beyond the departure from tradition, this industrialized process sacrifices flavor, texture, and the live cultures that have always made fermented foods a nutritional staple around the world. At Brine and Dine, we agree that probiotics (like the live cultures in yogurt, kombucha and our sauerkraut) play an important role in staying healthy. That's why we rely on wild cultures to make our sauerkraut. These cultures take a week to turn our raw cabbage into the live food that we can then deliver to you.

Our recipes are unique

While we pride ourselves on a commitment to traditional craftsmanship, we also work carefully to develop new styles with innovative ingredients. We're constantly experimenting with new flavors, new spices, and new fermentations. We strive to update all of these recipes to be accessible to all diets. That's why our products are not only vegan, but also free of common allergens. And we don't just make sauerkraut; we're also developing our own gluten- andsoy-free versions of miso, tempeh, and vegan cheeses, and we're working hard to make them available soon!

We hand-source ingredients directly from farmers, ensuring that the freshest available local vegetables end up in our products. We've established personal relationships with local farms, so we can promise our supporters that they are are getting the best, freshest produce.

We're a collective workplace

Brine and Dine is a group of idealists, and while we recognize that the material needs of living in the modern world generally require one to "play along", we're not exactly committed to playing fair. We're unapologetic in our opposition to the exploitation of employees and workers, the environment, and the consumer. At Brine & Dine Live Culture Collective, there are no bosses, and everyone is a co-owner with equal say in the direction of the group. We have trust and respect for one another, and in this way we create an environment that is a microcosm of the world we hope for.

We need your help

To complete this project, we need funding to upgrade to larger, professional quality fermenting crocks, with which we'll be able to turn out a much higher volume every week. We need to buy new, commercial-quality tools to grate and pack our kraut. We also need to design, print, and assemble our labels and packaging. We need to pay for our space in a commercial kitchen, and get the proper licensing for ourselves and our product. We need your help to fund this project, so that we can accomplish these goals and produce the freshest, best tasting sauerkraut possible.

For more information, check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, where we post every day about what we're doing, how we do it, and why.

We wish it wasn't so. We discussed this way longer than maybe we would have liked and we did the research. The fact remains that these cultures are live and refrigeration only slows them down. We calculated the only way to transport them safely when they are out of our hands would be to package them in a flat-rate priority-mail box ($10.15), with an insulated bag ($4) and some dry ice (~$1). It's not a scam we promise. In fact we may lose money doing what we love. By all means contact us and maybe you know better.

Pledge $75 or more

15 backers

Brine and Dine's dinner date for two: Choose a three course meal prepared by us, using our sauerkraut, and ready for you to pick up and serve, with instructions and wine and beer pairing suggestions. Of course, you and your date will each also get a jar of our sauerkraut, a hand-screened t-shirt, patch, and a thank you postcard.

Estimated delivery:May 2012

You selected

Pledge $150 or more

8 backers

You and a friend (or a date!) are invited to a pickling class at the Upper West Side brownstone where Brine and Dine first began. We'll be sharing how we craft sauerkraut, pickles, and hot sauce in a dynamic class tailored to our backers. And, at the end of the afternoon, you'll take something you've created home with you!

Estimated delivery:Jun 2012

You selected

Pledge $500 or more

1 backer
Limited (4 left of 5)

Brine and Dine makes great sauerkraut, but that's not all we do! You and up to 7 guests are invited to a hosted five course meal, either at the historic Upper West Side brownstone where we got our start or at your own place.We'll prepare custom-crafted dishes with our kraut and provide beer or wine pairings. Plus, everyone will leave with a jar of our sauerkraut and and a limited edition t-shirt!

Estimated delivery:Jun 2012

You selected

Pledge $1,000 or more

0 backers
Limited (2 left of 2)

The dinner party above, plus: We will develop a fermentation with you, from the ground up! We'll work with you to determine a project (it doesn't have to be sauerkraut), ingredients, spices, and a name for your creation, which will become part of Brine and Dine's product line!